Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.

A tipping point? Housing bears, everywhere

August 4, 2008 | 1:38
pm

A tipping point? You can't swing a 44-pound foreclosed cat without hitting a profile of an I-told-you-so housing bear in the news today:

Fortune.com posts a long profile of bearish analyst Meredith Whitney (pictured), who in 2005 predicted "unprecedented credit losses" for subprime lenders and now predicts an ugly, 1980s-style recession. CNBC piles on with an interview in which Whitney says housing prices will fall "much more than people expect." Random background: She's 38, a former Fox News commentator, a graduate of Bikini Boot Camp and is married to WWE pro wrestler John Layfield, a.k.a. "the J.R. Ewing of pro wrestling."

The New York Times profiles bank analyst Richard X. Bove: Since 2005, Bove "has gained a certain reputation as one of the few bank analysts to predict the blow-up in the housing market and subsequent problems at many banks." Random background: He's 67, works from his home in Lutz, Fla., and believes some bank stocks are now "too cheap."